It's Christmastime!

The tree is up. Can you tell that the kids helped decorate? Note the ornament placement...or rather the lack of ornaments near the top. :)





The stockings have been hung by the TV with care. (sorry, no chimney at our house!)


The angel has been placed on the tree......

.....by this little angel. (and in case you see a foot on the left side of the picture by her head, just pretend that's the foot of a 2nd angel wearing camo pants)

My three favorite gifts are under the tree. Of course, it took a while to get them placed JUST RIGHT.

Ahh...that's better. Sometimes it takes the right touch to make things look just right. (I was afraid I might have to TOUCH them firmly if they didn't hurry up & get into place!)

Allow me to give you a quick tour of my favorite Christmas decorations & ornaments.

This ornament is special because it was handpainted for me by my Kindergarten teacher 28 years ago. I'm amazed that it's held up all these years. It's ceramic & is quite heavy. Every year when we put it on the tree, I'm just certain THIS will be the year that it falls off & breaks. So far, so good.

This is a fun ornament for me, as well. This is a picture of me when I was in the 2nd grade. It's in this rinky-dink little plastic heart-shaped frame ornament. There is no plastic/glass to cover the picture, so I keep thinking that one of these years the picture is going to fade & it won't be recognizable anymore. But no....it's still in good shape. It's a Polaroid picture, too! (I think that part amazes me as much as anything. Polaroids usually fade before you can walk across the room with them!) Hmm... maybe Sarah does bear some resemblance to her mama, after all. I've always thought she looks like Larry...til now.


Of course, any ornaments made by my babies are special!

This one was made by Samuel when he was 3....awww...his first year in AWANAs/Cubbies. (yes I realize there is glitter on his face, but I love it anyway!)


Here is Miss Savannah in 2nd grade.



I have bunches & bunches of other kid-made ornaments, but I'll spare you all the pictures. Maybe that will be another post between now & Christmas. Besides, I only showed you the older two kids' ornaments. You've got to see Sarah's, too!! (hmm.....storing that idea away in the back of my "to be blogged about" files)


This is one of those little engraved ornaments from mine & Larry's first Christmas together. It really isn't as tarnished as it appears. That's just the lighting on the brass. It says The Reeves family across the bottom of the bell & the little hanging part says 1994.


My angel tree topper is pretty sweet. Sarah made it the year she was 4. It's made from a paper plate cut into an angel shape, folded around & stapled to sit over the top of the tree & colored to look oh-so-beautiful. Wouldn't you say she looks pretty angelic? :) Seriously, she may not be the prettiest angel in the world, but I love it because my sweet baby girl made it.


My two nativity sets --




Two small Christmas tree decorations & the cookie shop house that sit atop my TV during the holidays.


The kids have already made a countdown paper chain & it's hanging by the front door.


One last look at those sweet gifts I was placing so sweetly earlier today....

Everyone's in bed now....it's dark in the house. Goodnight.